A method of and a device for rendering content data of a content data stream based on a level of toxicity of the content data stream

ABSTRACT

A method ( 1 ) of and a device for rendering content data of a content data stream. From content data identified in the content data stream, a level of toxicity is determined ( 4 ). The level of toxicity represents a measure of authenticity of the received content data stream. Content data of the received content data stream is rendered ( 6 ) based on an aggregated level of toxicity.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to content data processing and, moreparticular, to rendering content data of a content data stream, such asa video or audio content data stream.

BACKGROUND

One of today's main concerns for content owners is piracy. Currentsolutions, including Conditional Access System (CAS) and The RightsManagement (DRM) solutions show their limitation, as once theirprotection is removed to ensure the decoding and rendering, i.e.playing, of the content data at a rendering device, such as a display,TV screen, earphones, loudspeakers, etc. the captures or registrationsare possible, enabling further transcoding and pirate exchanges in avery good quality (if not similar to the original) of the content.

Watermarking is currently positioned as the next step after CAS/DRMprotection. Watermarking is based on the insertion, in a content datastream, of an invisible mark, containing unique information enablingidentification of the content data stream, should its content be sharedin an inappropriate manner. However, as such this does not immediatelydeter piracy, as further steps then will be necessary, mainly of a legalnature, such access to the pirate content through an appropriatemonitoring system for example, perform watermark analysis to recover thehidden identity, ID, thereof, identify the end user with this ID, andfinally to decide how to use this information. That is, prosecuting theidentified person, providing a fine, terminating its subscription toparticular data content or data sources, and many more.

What makes this even more difficult is that the end user perceiving suchinappropriate content, in most cases, is not aware of the fact that thecontent is non-authentic, i.e. that the authenticity of the receivedcontent data stream is violated.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a new, versatilemethod of and a device for rendering content data of a content datastream to discourage sharing of non-authentic content data.

In a first aspect there is provided a method of rendering content dataof a content data stream, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by a data receiver, a content data stream,

identifying, by an identification unit, content data of the receivedcontent data stream,

determining, by a determination unit, a level of toxicity of theidentified content data, the level of toxicity representing a measure ofauthenticity of the received content data stream,

providing, by an aggregation unit, an aggregated level of toxicity fromthe determined level of toxicity,

rendering, by a rendering device, content data of the received contentdata stream based on the aggregated level of toxicity.

The method according to the disclosure is a new technical solution tofight against non-authorized content sharing. With the disclosure, therendering of content data received with a content data stream isaffected depending on an aggregated toxicity level. The level oftoxicity of identified content data of a content data stream provides ameasure or indication of how authentic, or not authentic at all, thereceived content data stream is. By providing an aggregated level oftoxicity, based on the determined level of toxicity, rendering of thecontent data can be controlled in a versatile manner.

In particular, the rendering of content data may be controlled in amanner that an end-user, perceiving the rendered content, becomes awareof the use of illegal or otherwise violated content, or content that isat least not used as intended by its legal provider, producer or contentholder after a particular toxic content rendering time, i.e. after aparticular amount of toxic content is played or otherwise reproduced,after a number of received toxic content data streams, and dependent onthe frequency by which toxic content data is rendered, for example. Theterm toxic content is to be understood as content data of which aparticular level of toxicity is determined.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the content data rendering isaffected if the aggregated level of toxicity exceeds a toxicity levelthreshold by applying at least one of:

content data rendering quality constraints,

content data rendering time constraints,

content data rendering selection,

rendering toxicity information messages with rendered content data, and

rendering, at least partly, content data other than content datareceived in the content data stream.

Non-exhaustive examples of content data rendering quality constraintscomprise rendering the content in a lower or low resolution, i.e. avideo and/or audio resolution lower than the authentic contentresolution, rendering a colour video in black and white only, renderingstereo sound only monographic, etc. Content data rendering timeconstraints may comprise rendering the content data for a limited amountof time only, rendering the content data in a paused manner, i.e. byinterrupting the rendering periodically, for example. Instead ofrendering the received content data as a whole, selected parts of thecontent data may be rendered only or, to the contrary, selected parts ofthe content data may not be rendered at all. That is, content datarendering selection may comprise rendering user generated content dataonly, rendering content data classified as belonging to a certain typeof content, for example advertisements, news, etc.

With the content data rendered, specific toxicity information messagesmay be rendered, i.e. displayed and/or in audio form, attending ornotifying the end-user to the fact the content data is to a certainextent non-authentic. For example, when a predefined amount ofnon-authentic content is consumed, the end-user may not be able tocontinue watching and/or listening to illegal content or content dataobtained illegally, unless he or she has purchased or has obtained somerights to be able to consume the content data on his/her content datarendering device.

Another measure in impeding the rendering of the content data may, forexample, comprise playing completely or partly other content data thanthe one received with the content data stream. Such other content datamay comprise messages or information prompting the end-user to obtain alegal or authentic content data stream. For example, in the case ofinternet shared video, the end user may be offered to perceive thecontent in a better quality via a legitimate portal, for example by asmall prompt on a display or a TV screen.

The above measures, in isolation or in any manner combined, may belessened or to the contrary tightened depended on the end-userbehaviour. If, for example, the end user does not respond to prompts ormessages or the like, other functionality of the rendering device may beaffected, for example the operation with peripheral equipment, such ascamera, a USB-stick, etc. or the quality of the rendering device itselfmay be affected, for example affecting the brightness of video orrestricting the volume of an audio signal, etc.

The toxicity level threshold may be pre-set, for example. A particularsetting of the toxicity level threshold may be device dependent and/ordependent on technical data, such as data relating to transmissioncapacity constraints.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the aggregated level of toxicityand/or the toxicity level threshold are provided based on at least oneof:

number of received content data streams,

content data rendering time,

frequency of content data rendering,

information provided in relation to the content data.

By taking into account both toxic and non-toxic content data indetermining any or both of the aggregated level of toxicity or toxicitylevel threshold, a very versatile control of the content data renderingis provided.

For example, when only toxic content data is received and rendered, theaggregated level of toxicity may reach the toxicity level thresholdfaster compared to receiving a mix of toxic and non-toxic content datastreams, for example. Same may apply for the total amount of time ofrendering toxic and non-toxic content data, the frequency by which toxicand non-toxic content data is rendered, such as each month, each day oreven a number of times per day, and whether or not warning or notifyingmessages related to the rendering of toxic content data have been madeavailable with the rendered content data, for example. In case ofignoring warning messages, thus while toxic content is still rendered,the aggregated level of toxicity may also be reached faster, forexample. As an alternative, or in addition to the manner in which theaggregated level of toxicity is calculated or adapted, the toxicitylevel threshold may also be adapted. Thus, the toxicity level thresholdmay be lowered or raised depending on the consumption of the user: itmay be lowered when only toxic content data is rendered and may beraised in case of a mix of toxic and non-toxic content or when non-toxiccontent is rendered during at least a predetermined time, for example.The rendered content data depends on the consumption of content data,and content data type.

The aggregated level of toxicity and/or the toxicity level threshold maybe stored, to control future rendering of toxic content based onprevious rendered content. Thus, taking into account the consumptionhistory of authentic questionable content by an end-user, for example.Based on this consumption history, the rendering of content data may beaffected more severely or eventually the content data may not berendered at all, for example. The aggregated level of toxicity and/orthe toxicity level threshold may be stored at a remote server ordatabase, for example. It will be well understood that the remotestorage place is not a limited example, and a local memory can also beused.

It will be appreciated that when rendering toxic content, or when severerestrictions are applied, a message or messages may be forwarded to anexternal server or database, for information purposes, for example foridentifying notorious users of compromised content.

In addition to pure technical parameters, commercial, business ormanagement rules may be applied in rendering toxic content data. Thatis, the aggregated level of toxicity and/or the toxicity level thresholdmay be managed and determined based on plural rules for managingtoxicity levels. For example, even if strongly toxic, content data maybe rendered if such rules assign that a certain amount of toxic contentscan be displayed before blocking because the content data is not actualanymore, is of fairly general nature, or other reasons. Similarly,content data determined as having a low level of toxicity may be blockedimmediately, for example, in case of actual content, content that isstrongly copyright protected, etc.

The level of toxicity, in an embodiment, may be set at toxic, i.e.completely or for the major part toxic, non-toxic, or at one or moreintermediate levels between toxic and non-toxic. An intermediate levelmay be allocated if there are serious doubts about the authenticity ofthe content data stream, which cannot be verified because ofdifficulties in unambiguously identifying the content for determiningthe level of toxicity thereof, for example. In an embodiment of thedisclosure, each content data stream is presumed to be toxic whenreceived, such that each content data stream is subjected to renderingconstraints as disclosed above. Determining the level of toxicity inaccordance with the disclosure may involve a decision whether to adaptthe presumed level of toxicity. Instead of or in addition to identifyingcontent of a received content data stream for determining its level oftoxicity, in a content data stream comprising at least one marker, in anembodiment of the disclosure, the marker may be identified fordetermining a level of toxicity.

A marker may comprise at least one of:

a watermark encoded in the content data;

pilot signals embedded in the content data;

information relating to the content data as such;

metadata relating to the content data; and

technical data relating to encoding and transmission of the contentdata.

For the purpose of the disclosure, several information items relatingdirectly or indirectly to a particular content data or content datastream may be used for identifying content data. In practice,watermarked content is comprised in encoded form in the content datastream. In such case, i.e. with an encoded marker, the step ofidentifying content comprises decoding, by the identification unit, ofthe encoded watermark or marker.

A level of toxicity is determined, in an embodiment of the disclosure,by evaluating identified content data and/or evaluating an identifiedmarker against available content data and/or marker identification data,and setting a level of toxicity based on a result of such evaluation. Inparticular in the case of a watermark, having a particularidentification, ID, a level of toxicity is determined by detecting thewatermark ID, evaluating the detected watermark ID against availablewatermark IDs, and setting a level of toxicity based on a result of theevaluation.

The evaluation may be performed against data that is locally available,i.e. with the rendering device, for example, or remotely accessiblethrough a communication link, such as a dedicated link, with a remoteserver and/or remote database, against the content itself and itsorigin, i.e. available from a content owner, operator, etc. Thedisclosure as such is not limited to a particular type of watermark orother markers and information.

For watermark detection purposes, a dedicated watermark decoding engineintegrated into a decoder of a content rendering device may be used,such as a TV screen, or alternatively in the decoder of a set top box,in a less advanced version of a content rendering device. In anembodiment, the watermark decoding engine may be a simplified version ofa watermark decoder present in a decoder of a user device, to avoidinterference with a watermark decoder that, for reasons of secrecy, isnot accessible for other purposes than internal data processing in theuser device.

The ID of a watermark may be at least generic to the content, i.e. acontent owner ID, and can be improved with a specific user ID, forexample.

The watermark is supposed to be invisible to avoid any user's visualimpact and ensure mark robustness, but is not limited thereto. That is,the watermark or in general a marker to be applied for contentidentifying purposes, may be inserted in the form of parallel metadataor out of resolution information, as mentioned above. Same may beinserted in the audio or video content of a data stream or any otherpart thereof, such as a header part in packetized content data streams.However, the marker or watermark may also be perceivable, such asvisible to an end-user.

In an embodiment of the method according to the disclosure, a pluralityof different markers is identified and the toxicity level is furtherdetermined and set based on an evaluation amongst the identifiedmarkers.

The level of toxicity of a content data stream, ad minima, may be basedon detected watermark information. In addition, other information may beused such as codec information, i.e. encoding type, resolution, framerate, electronic programme guide (EPG) information, CAS/DRM information,but also device type, source type such as STB, TV, USB stick, recognizedand possibly paired peripheral devices such a video camera and the like.

If the detection returns an expected value, for example a fully and99.99% sure ID detection, and linked with other information, for examplefrom an external DB, relaying that the content with this ID is correctlyrecognized, and matches the resolution, the transmission date and theEPG data, for example, than the level of toxicity can be set at zero,i.e. non-toxic, meaning that the content data in that case is totallygenuine or authentic.

Shall the detection returns an unexpected value, such as when e.g. thedetection is 90% sure only, and the content resolution doesn't matchwith the detected ID external information, an appropriate level oftoxicity will be associated to this content. For example, when expectedcontent data is identified as 4K content data but is received in HighDefinition (HD) resolution, this is representative of a transcodedcontent with size reduction, which is not coherent with the content ID.

Shall the detection return information that the content is watermarkedbut the watermark is undetectable, then it may be assumed that theofficial original content has been strongly modified before being playedon the content rendering device. Potentially this assumption may beimproved by the content origin, for example by determining the source ofthe content data stream, i.e. is the content data stream received from aperipheral device, such as a USB stick? In the affirmative, the level oftoxicity may then be raised to the maximum, i.e. fully toxic.

As explained above, intermediate levels of toxicity may be appliedinvoking less severe restrictions, for example.

The content data stream may also come directly from internet, on aconnected STB or a connected TV, for example. The end users expect tosee such content without restriction. Anyway, following the rule thateach content is supposed toxic, it will be analysed by the watermarkdecoder, which will return either nothing in case of pure user generatedcontent (UGC), i.e. content not containing any watermark, for example,or some IDs in the case of sharing of a legitimate content alreadydistributed by an operator, for example. Then a specific toxicity levelwill be attributed to this content. Depending on the aggregated toxicitylevel reached, and whether or not the toxicity level threshold is alsoreached or exceeded, the rendering content data may be then affected ornot.

To avoid bypassing or otherwise hindering that a received content datastream is not subjected to a toxicity analysis, in an embodiment of thedisclosure the steps relating to identifying content data, determining alevel of toxicity, providing at least one of an aggregated level oftoxicity and a toxicity level threshold, and rendering content databased on the determined level of toxicity are performed in a securehardware and/or software environment.

That is, same can be integrated into a hardware dongle, should the TVnot natively integrate the appropriate tool, but then being updated withan appropriate secure software to use the dongle, or any otherapplication specific integrated hardware component, for example.

In a second aspect, there is provided a device for rendering contentdata of a content data stream, the device comprising:

a data receiver, arranged for receiving a content data stream,

an identification unit, arranged for identifying content data of thereceived content data stream,

a determination unit, arranged for determining a level of toxicity ofthe identified content data, the level of toxicity representing ameasure of authenticity of the received content data stream,

an aggregation unit, for providing an aggregated level of toxicity fromsaid determined level of toxicity,

a content data rendering unit, arranged for rendering content data ofthe received content data stream at a content reproduction device basedon the aggregated level of toxicity.

In an embodiment, the device is arranged for rendering content data of acontent data stream comprising at least one marker, wherein theidentification unit is arranged for identifying content data of thereceived content data stream by identifying at least one marker in thereceived content data stream, and wherein the determination unit isarranged for evaluating an identified marker against available markeridentification data, and setting a level of toxicity based on a resultof the evaluation.

In practice, the determination unit, the aggregation unit and thecontent data rendering unit may be incorporated in a computer programfor loading on a data processor of a data processing device of a contentdata rendering system, such as a TV or radio receiver, whether or notcomprising a STB. The system thus comprises the data receiver, theidentification unit, and the content reproduction device. Forcommunication purposes with an external or remote database, for example,a data transmitter is provided.

Some of the units mentioned may be combined and some or all of theoperations may be implemented and performed by a computer or dataprocessing device, for example. For the purpose of the disclosureapplicable units are commercially available.

In a third aspect, there is provided a computer program product,comprising program code means, arranged to perform the method accordingto the disclosure as disclosed above, when the program code means areloaded in a working memory of a computer and are executed by thecomputer. The program code means may also be arranged for beingintegrated in or added to a computer application comprising applicationcode means for joint execution of the program code means and theapplication code means by a computer.

The code means, i.e. the computer program, may be stored/distributed ona suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-statemedium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may alsobe distributed in other forms, such as a signal via the Internet orother wired or wireless telecommunication systems.

The present disclosure may be applied to both audio and/or video. Theoperation of the content data rendering device is subject to rules: forexample, no automatic blocking may be applied when a toxic content isdetected. The level of toxicity, and aggregated level of toxicity, andpredetermined rules for rendering data content, either available locallyin the rendering device or in an external database allow to manage anydecision for influencing the rendering and reproduction of content data;same enables messaging/user interaction to incite the user to go for,i.e. obtain, non-toxic or legal content.

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the disclosurewill be best understood from the following description referring to theattached drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals denoteidentical parts or parts performing an identical or comparable functionor operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a specific embodiment of amethod according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a device for rendering content according tothe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method accordingto the present disclosure. This embodiment is directed to a method,generally designated by reference numeral 1, in which at least onemarker in the content data stream is used for determining the level oftoxicity of the content data stream. It is noted that the presentdisclosure is also directed to method steps in which the content dataitself is used as an input for determining the level of toxicity.

As mentioned before, one of today's main concerns for data contentowners is directed to piracy. Many solutions proposed nowadays includethe Conditional access System (CAS), and the Digital rights management(DRM).

CAS/DRM schemes comprise various access control technologies that areused to restrict the usage of proprietary hardware and copyrightedcontent. CAS/DRM technologies tend to control the use, modification, anddistribution of copyrighted content data, such as audio or videocontent, as well as systems within devices that enforce these policies.

Nowadays, a lot of focus is on the applicability of marks, for examplewatermarks, in the content data stream, wherein the mark comprises aunique identification of a user and is provided with the content datastream. The mark is used for enabling user identification, for example,should the content data stream be shared in an inappropriate manner.Such a mark thus enables the content data stream to be tracked back tothe user provided with the content data stream.

Basically, in the prior art, marks are used to determine the origin ofthe content that is being rendered. Thus, using the mark, the personresponsible for the distribution of the content can be tracked.

The present disclosure is directed to the purpose of using the mark formaking an end user aware of the likelihood that he or she is watching orlistening to a non-original copy of original content. As such, themethod 1 according to the present disclosure aims at making the end useraware of the use of illegal content data or at least to the fact thatthe content data is not used as intended.

One goal of this method is to make sure that the end users are consciousof the fact that they are likely to use illegal, illicit, or at leastmanipulated, content data.

In order to obtain the above mentioned goal, the method 1 comprisesseveral steps.

In a first step 2, “Receiving marked content data”, the marked contentdata stream is received by a data receiver, for example, integrated in adevice for rendering content data. The device for rendering content datais typically a set-top box (STB), a smart television set, or anythingalike. The set-top box may contain a television tuner input, being thedata receiver, and an output for connection to a television set. Moreadvanced set-top boxes are also provided with an internet connection,for example, via Wi-Fi protocols like 802.11a/b/g/n. According to thepresent disclosure, the content data stream may be received via any datareceiver of the device for rendering content data. The received markedcontent data stream may be stored locally at the device for renderingcontent data, or may be streamed directly towards the television set.

In a second step 3, “Identifying marker in content data”, anidentification unit, for example comprised by the device for renderingcontent data, is arranged to identify at least one mark in the receivedcontent data stream. The at least one mark may, for example, be a datahash or a digital watermark. With a digital watermark the originalcontent data is amended allowing for the subsequent recovery of embeddedauxiliary data in the content data.

In order to identify the at least one mark in the content data stream,the device for rendering content data may comprise a dedicated watermarkdecoding engine. The watermark decoding engine is typically secured suchthat bypassing of the watermark decoding engine is prevented. As suchall content data received is analysed by the watermark decoding engine.Such a secure watermark decoding engine may be obtained using a hardwaredevice like a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), wherein thefunctionality of the watermark decoding engine is programmed in theFPGA. Another option is to use a processor unit and software running onthe processor unit, wherein the software is secured such that itprevents any malicious attempt from the outside to manipulate thesoftware.

As mentioned above, the device for rendering content may be a set-topbox or a television set. The watermark decoding engine may be integratedinto a hardware dongle, should the television set or the set-top box notnatively support the appropriate tools. These devices may then beupdated with an appropriate secure software package to use the hardwaredongle.

Typically, the identified at least one mark is invisible to the end userto avoid any user's visual impact and ensure mark robustness, but it isnot limited to that particular situation. The at least one mark may, forexample, also be inserted in the form of parallel metadata or out ofresolution information. The at least one mark may be inserted in audiocontent data or video content data.

In a third step 4, “Determining level of toxicity”, a determinationunit, for example comprised by the device for rendering content data, isarranged to determine a level of toxicity of the identified marker,wherein the level of toxicity represents a measure of authenticity ofthe received data content.

It is one of the insights that whenever an original content data ismodified, for example transcoded, than the obtained modified contentdata will also comprise the at least one mark. However, the quality ofthe at least one mark is affected in case the modification processresults in modified content data which is of less quality compared tothe original content data. As such, not only the content data isaffected but also the at least one mark comprised in the content data.

Modifying of the original content data, for example by a hacker group orthe like, may occur in different ways. For example, the original contentdata is decoded and encoded again however by using a different codectype. For example, Digital Video Disc, DVD, data content is typicallycoded using MPEG-2. In order to reduce the total size of the contentdata, the content data is often recoded using a different codec likeH.264, MPEG-4 or Advanced Video Coding (AVC). The quality of thewatermark in the video content data is in such cases affected,especially in cases where the recoding, i.e. transcoding, is based on alossy compression.

Lossy compression or irreversible compression is the class of dataencoding methods that uses inexact approximations and partial datadiscarding to represent the content data. These techniques are used toreduce data size for storage, handling, and transmitting content data.This is opposed to lossless data compression which does not degrade thecontent data. The possible amount of data reduction by using lossycompression is often much higher than through lossless techniques.

In order to efficiently determine the level of toxicity of theidentified marker, the determination unit may consult a remote or localdatabase for an original version of the watermark. The obtained originalversion of the watermark is then correlated with the identifiedwatermark in the received content data. The correlation output providesfor a measure in which the obtained original version of the watermarkresembled the identified watermark in the received content data. Theoutput of the correlation may then provide the level of toxicity, i.e.represent the measure of authenticity of the received content data.

The original content data may also be modified in a different way, i.e.instead of using a different codec, like explained above. For example,the resolution of the video content data, the depth of the colourschemes and/or the frame rate may be modified all of which result in alossy compression. As a result of such a lossy compression, the at leastone marker, for example the watermark, is degraded in quality as well.

Other aspects may be used as well for determining the toxicity level,i.e. besides using the identified at least one mark in the data contentsec for establishing the toxicity level of the content data. Forexample, in case the determination unit determines that the videocontent data has a display resolution of 800*600 or 640*480 pixels, thanthat may be an indication that the content data have been modified as,normally, the video content data will have a resolution much higher thanthese values. Further, if the determination unit detects that the codecused for the video data content is a codec not related to a particularstandard, then that may also be an indication that the original contentdata have been tampered with. The above are just two examples, besidesthe watermark aspect as described above, which may be used fordetermining a level of toxicity of the content data.

In a fourth step 5, “Providing aggregated level of toxicity”, anaggregation unit, based on the level of toxicity determined in theprevious step, performs a calculation in order to decide whetherrendering of the content data needs to be affected or controlled or thatthe content data may be rendered, i.e. reproduced, as received, forexample. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the aggregatedlevel of toxicity may be calculated continuously and adapted. Forexample, by continuously determining the level of toxicity of a receivedcontent data stream and integrating same over the actual rendering timeof the content data, by adding up the levels of toxicity of receiveddata streams in a particular amount of time, etc. The aggregated levelof toxicity may be stored, either locally or externally from a contentdata rendering device, and such stored value may be used for determiningthe behaviour of a user in consuming toxic content over a longer periodof time, for example a week or longer.

The aggregated level of toxicity is, for example, increased when theuser accesses illegal contents. Depending on the behaviour of the user,it is also possible to decrease the aggregated level of toxicity whenthe user watches only legal or licit content during a particular periodof time, or when the user receives a mix of a number of toxic andnon-toxic content data streams. The aggregated level of toxicity mayalso be decreased if the user obtains a non-toxic or legal version ofparticular content data, but may on the other hand be increased when theuser does not respond to notification messages, notifying the user ofthe display of suspicious content. It will be appreciated that themanner of providing an aggregated level of toxicity may be based on manyparameters and rules, both technical and non-technical, thereby offeringa versatile instrument for rendering toxic content data under control ofa legal content provider, producer, etc.

Whether or not to affect the rendering of a received content data streammay be decided upon by setting a toxicity level threshold. The contentdata rendering will be affected once the aggregated level of toxicityexceeds the set toxicity level threshold. The amount by which thetoxicity level threshold is exceeded may correlate with the impact onthe content data rendering, for example.

The toxicity level threshold may be pre-set and fixed. However, togetherwith, or as an alternative to, the adaptation of the aggregated level oftoxicity, the toxicity level threshold may also be adapted, eitherdynamically, dependent on the user behaviour in consuming content data,as illustrated above, or updated by an externally generated updatesignal, provided by a content operator or provider, for example. Thetoxicity level threshold may be set to a higher value when the userchanges his behaviour in the sense of less consuming toxic or suspiciouscontent, but may be lowered otherwise. Rules for managing the toxicitylevel threshold can be, for example, predetermined in the device forrendering content data, for example implemented in the determinationunit, the aggregation unit or a data rendering unit, equipped forcomparing the aggregated level toxicity with the toxicity levelthreshold. However, such rules may also be stored externally from thecontent data rendering device and operatively communicated therewith.

In a fifth step 6, “Rendering received content data”, a content datarendering unit, for example comprised by the device for renderingcontent, renders the received content data based on the aggregated levelof toxicity. This entails, for example, that the set-top box outputs thevideo content towards a television set or other content reproductiondevice. In case that the content data is not suspicious, i.e. theaggregated level of toxicity is relatively low, the video data contentis outputted to the television set in a regular manner.

The rendering device may decide to alert the end user in case thereceived data is suspicious, i.e. the aggregated toxicity level isrelatively high and reaches or exceeds already a set toxicity levelthreshold of an authorized toxicity level. The alerting of the end usermay be accomplished in a variety of ways.

In a first example, the content data rendering device may decide tosimply output video content data in a regular manner for a predeterminedamount of time. Once the predetermined amount of time has lapsed, awarning signal may be provided to the end user. The warning signal may,for example, be an overlaying message, i.e. a message overlayed on thevideo content being played. This example will push the end user toretrieve a legal, or original, version of the video content data.

In a second example, the rendering device may decide to downscale thevideo content data being played to the end user. That is, for example,if the video content data has a pixel resolution of 4K it may decide todownscale that video content data to a High Definition or a StandardDefinition resolution. This may be complemented by opening a web portaland offer the same content in the appropriate resolution and prompt theend user to purchase that content via the web portal, for example.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a device 101 for rendering content accordingto the present disclosure.

The device 101 comprises a data receiver 103 arranged for receiving acontent data stream. The content data stream may be received from acontent distribution network, a movie distribution platform, a contentsharing platform or anything alike.

Further, an identification unit 105 is provided for identifying contentdata of the received content data stream. As mentioned above, preferablyat least one watermark in the content data stream is to be identified.Alternatively, any content which is known beforehand can be used duringthe identification process. As such, the comparison between the knowncontent and the actual received content can then be used to determinethe toxicity level. The identification unit 105 may communicate with alocal database 106 to determine whether the marker resembles a marker inthe database 106. If so, the identified marker as well as the marker inthe database 106 may be provided to the determination unit 111.Alternatively, the identification unit 105 may communicate with anexternal database (not shown) via a data transmitter 113 and outputterminal 115. Typically such a communication is via a publiccommunication network like the internet. Optionally, such acommunication may be performed over a secure tunnel such as a Virtualprivate network, VPN, tunnel.

Next, a determination unit 111 is provided and which is arranged fordetermining a level of toxicity of the identified content data, thelevel of toxicity represents a measure of authenticity of the receivedcontent data stream. Typically the quality of the received watermark inthe content data is used for determining the level of toxicity of thecontent data. However, as mentioned one paragraph above, any receivedcontent may be compared to a known content for determining the level oftoxicity.

By an aggregation unit 112, using the level of toxicity determined bythe determination unit 111 and parameters, rules and algorithms foraggregating the determined level of toxicity, an aggregated level oftoxicity is calculated for deciding upon measures that are to be takenwhen the rendering device 101 renders toxic content data. The rules,parameters, algorithms, for providing an aggregated level of toxicity aswell as a toxicity level threshold, as explained above, may be stored inthe database 106, for example.

The device 101 further comprises a content data rendering unit 110arranged for rendering content of the received content data stream at acontent reproduction device 114, based on the aggregated level oftoxicity calculated by the aggregation unit 112.

The device 101 further comprises a control unit 108 and a memory 107,which control unit 108 is connected to the data receiver 103, thedetermination unit 111, the identification unit 105, the aggregationunit 112, and the content rendering unit 110 via a bus connection or thelike.

Even further, the incoming content data stream pass through the inputterminal 104 before they arrive at the data receiver 103, or datareceiving module. The content rendering unit 110 is arranged to renderthe content data stream via the output terminal 109 at the datarendering device 114, such as a video display, like a TV screen, and/oraudio device, such as a loudspeaker.

One of the insights and advantages of the method and device according tothe present disclosure is that the quality of the content data stream,more particularly the quality of the identified watermark embedded inthe content data stream, may be used for determining a toxicity levelwhich is a measure of authenticity of the received content data stream.As such, the likelihood that the received content data stream istampered with can be determined to a certain extend, and an end userwatching the content data of a received content data stream may bewarned or alerted once it is established that it is likely that thecontent is not authentic.

The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments as disclosedabove, and can be modified and enhances by those skilled in the artbeyond the scope of the present disclosure as disclosed in the appendedclaims without having to apply inventive skills.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate other variations to thedisclosed embodiments but comprised by the appended claims frompracticing the claimed disclosure and/or from a study of thedescription, drawings and claims. In the claims, the word “comprising”does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a”or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or otherdigital processing unit may fulfil the functions of several itemsrecited in the claims and features recited in mutually differentdependent claims may be combined. Reference signs in the claims, if any,are provided for illustrative purposes only.

1. A method of rendering content data of a content data stream, saidmethod comprising the steps of: receiving, by a data receiver, a contentdata stream, identifying, by an identification unit, content data ofsaid received content data stream, determining, by a determination unit,a level of toxicity of said identified content data, said level oftoxicity representing a measure of authenticity of said received contentdata stream, providing, by an aggregation unit, an aggregated level oftoxicity from said determined level of toxicity, rendering, by arendering device, content data of said received content data streambased on said aggregated level of toxicity.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said rendering of content data comprises affecting saidrendering of said received content data stream if said aggregated levelof toxicity exceeds a toxicity level threshold by applying at least oneof: content data rendering quality constraints, content data renderingtime constraints, content data rendering selection, rendering toxicityinformation messages with rendered content data, rendering, at leastpartly, content data other than content data received in said contentdata stream.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein at least one ofsaid aggregated level of toxicity and said toxicity level threshold isprovided based on at least one of: number of received content datastreams, content data rendering time, frequency of content datarendering, information provided in relation to the content data.
 4. Themethod according to any of the previous claims, wherein determining saidlevel of toxicity comprises setting a toxicity level at one of toxic,non-toxic, and an intermediate level.
 5. The method according to any ofthe previous claims, wherein determining a level of toxicity comprisesevaluating identified content data against available content data, andsetting said level of toxicity based on a result of said evaluation. 6.The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said contentdata stream comprises at least one marker, said marker comprising atleast one of: a watermark encoded in said content data; pilot signalsembedded in said content data; information relating to the content dataas such; metadata relating to the content data; and technical datarelating to encoding and transmission of the content data, whereinidentifying content data of said received content data stream comprisesidentifying at least one marker in said received content data stream. 7.The method according to claim 6, wherein said at least one marker iscomprised in encoded form in said content data stream, and wherein saidstep of identifying content data comprises decoding, by saididentification unit, said encoded marker.
 8. The method according toclaim 6 or 7, wherein determining a level of toxicity comprisesevaluating an identified marker against available marker identificationdata, and setting a toxicity level based on a result of said evaluation.9. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein said at least onemarker comprises a watermark having a particular identification, ID, andwherein determining a level of toxicity comprises detecting saidwatermark ID, evaluating said detected watermark ID against availablewatermark IDs, and setting a level of toxicity based on a result of saidevaluation.
 10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein aplurality of different markers is identified and wherein said level oftoxicity is further set based on an evaluation amongst said identifiedmarkers.
 11. The method according to any of the previous claims, whereinsaid steps relating to identifying content data, determining a level oftoxicity, providing at least one of an aggregated level of toxicity andtoxicity level threshold, and rendering content data based on saiddetermined level of toxicity are performed in a secure hardware and/orsoftware environment.
 12. A device for rendering content data of acontent data stream, said device comprising: a data receiver, arrangedfor receiving a content data stream, an identification unit, arrangedfor identifying content data of said received content data stream, adetermination unit, arranged for determining a level of toxicity of saididentified content data, said level of toxicity representing a measureof authenticity of said received content data stream, an aggregationunit, for providing an aggregated level of toxicity from said determinedlevel of toxicity, a content data rendering unit, arranged for renderingcontent data of said received content data stream at a contentreproduction device based on said aggregated level of toxicity.
 13. Thedevice according to claim 12, arranged for rendering content data of acontent data stream comprising at least one marker, wherein saididentification unit is arranged for identifying content data of saidreceived content data stream by identifying at least one marker in saidreceived content data stream, and wherein said determination unit isarranged for evaluating an identified marker against available markeridentification data, and setting a level of toxicity based on a resultof said evaluation.
 14. The device according to claim 12 or 13, whereinsaid determination unit, said aggregation unit, and said content datarendering unit are incorporated in a computer program for loading on adata processor of a data processing device of a content data renderingsystem, said system comprising said data receiver, said identificationunit, said content reproduction device and a data transmitter.
 15. Acomputer program product, comprising program code means, arranged toperform the method according to any of the claims 1-11, when saidprogram code means are loaded in a working memory of a computer and areexecuted by said computer or when said program code means are integratedin or added to a computer application comprising application code meansfor joint execution of said program code means and said application codemeans by a computer.